was staring into his silver eyes, counting the rings of deeper grey radiating through the iris like rings in a tree so I watched as they went shiny then wet then as one tear welled up in the wedge of his lower lashes and spilled down his cheek into his beard. He was crying. “Lou,” he croaked, tears falling. “Fuck me, I thought you were gonna leave me. I really fuckin’ did.” “I’d never leave you,” I promised turning our hands so I could link our pinkies and shake my thumb with his. “Fucking swear it.”
